History

In 1990, the small scientific and industrial enterprise “Melitta” develops and starts testing the prototype model of a portable germicidal unit with a pulsed xenon lamp.

In 1991, the company together with the experts of the “Plasma power systems” department of the Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman, founded in 1826, and leading Russian scientific research institutes launches multi-year research of the units’ efficiency in various fields: healthcare, waste waters treatment, drinking water conditioning, agriculture.

Numerous efficiency tests of the unit have been run on the basis of Scientific Research Institute of Disinfectology of the Russian Ministry of Health, Municipal Clinical Hospital No. 15, Clinical Hospital of the Presidential Administration, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Veterinary Hygiene, Sanitary Science and Ecology, and many more.

In 2003, the development of the world’s first mobile pulsed ultraviolet germicidal unit for air and surfaces disinfection “Alfa-01” is completed, in 2004, the portable unit “Alfa-05” is finished; and the company obtains the certificates of registration for medical devices from the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

On June 24, 2004, the Chief Sanitary Inspector of Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, issues a circular letter to all public health authorities of Russian territorial entities on the development of a new game-changing plasma-optical technology for air and open surfaces treatment and disinfection.

On December 28, 2004, the company “Melitta” obtains the Russian Ministry of Health license for serial production of medical devices. 

Cooperation with the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and large medical centers allows for developing disinfection regimes for inactivation of viruses, mycobacteria, spores and fungi, as well as performing the tests of units’ efficiency against resistant tuberculosis strains.

The year 2004 is the start of practical introduction of disinfection by pulsed ultraviolet into Space medicine

In 2006, the experts of the Presidential Administration Clinical Hospital publish the article “New air decontamination technologies at medical facilities” in the “Sterilization and HAI” magazine No. 2 on the efficiency and remarkable speed of “Alfa-01” and “Alfa-05” units for air and surfaces disinfection.

In 2008, the World Bank finances the purchase of 135 units for the Russian penal system to fight tuberculosis.

In the same year, “Melitta” develops and starts the production of the stationary germicidal unit “Alfa-02” for urgent indoor disinfection by creating the so-called “light pot” effect (with help of 4 or more irradiators). On February 26, 2008, the company obtains the Certificate of registration for medical devices from the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for the new unit.

In 2008, the company obtains the ISO certification of its management system for the international ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485:2003 standards.

In 2008, Mr. Goldshteyn M.D. (general director and co-founder of SIE “Melitta”) makes the acquaintance of American infection prevention experts, Dr. Julie Stachowiak and Dr. Mark Stibich, and they set a meeting in Paris to discuss the prospects for cooperation. In the same year, the units appear in the US press for the first time.

By that moment, the technology of pulsed xenon UV disinfection had already gained a reputation in Russia. More than 500 units are successfully deployed in numerous regions of the country.

Dr. Stibich and Dr. Stachowiak become CEO and chief operating officer of the newly founded company Xenex Technologies, formed with the specific purpose of bringing the “Alfa-01” and “Alfa-05” (named Yanex for export purposes) to the US market.

In 2009, Dr. Mark Stibich with help of Yanex Technologies performs the tests of the units at Antimicrobial Test Laboratories, LLC (Round Rock, Texas), that confirm the efficiency of “Alfa-01” for inactivation of С. difficile spores

In the period from 2010 to 2012, SIE “Melitta” exports 33 units to the United States; Xenex undertakes the practical implementation and efficiency research. A number of articles on the efficiency of real-life units’ use at hospitals appear in peer-reviewed magazines:

Journal of Infection Prevention, June 2013;   

American Journal of Infection Control, June 2014; 

Risk Management and Healthcare policy, January 2014;

American Journal of Infection Control, September 2015;

American Journal of Infection Control, March 2016.

In 2011, Xenex Disinfection Services and SIE “Melitta” sign a license agreement on using the patent that belongs to “Melitta”; and Xenex launches its own production of pulsed units based on the technology developed in Russia.

In accordance with the license agreement conditions, Xenex agrees to provide public recognition on its website to "Melitta" and Dr. Goldsteyn for their work in the pulsed xenon technology.

On February 25, 2011, for the development and implementation of pulsed plasma-optical technologies into space medicine and practical healthcare, Dr. Goldshteyn and the experts of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman, Federal Medical and Biological Agency, Scientific Research Institute of Disinfectology of the Russian Ministry of Health are awarded with the Russian Government Prize in science in technology for 2010.

In 2013-2014, “Melitta” exports the Yanex units to Mexico and Canada.

In 2016, “Melitta” participates in the ExoMars program. The “Alfa” units are used to disinfect the rooms where the Schiaparelli EDM lander is assembled, to prevent its contamination with terrestrial microorganisms, especially with the spore-forming bacteria of Bacillus species.

Presently, a new generation of “Yanex-2M” and “Yanex-5” units is created. It incorporates the 13-years’ long working experience and a number of technological know-hows in the field of speed, safety and disinfection efficiency, and uses xenon lamps with a significantly increased operational lifetime.

Today, over 2,000 pulsed xenon ultraviolet units have been implemented in Russia and worldwide.